A. Merchant1, K. Mcqueen1, O. Gunter1 1Vanderbilt University Medical Center,Trauma And Critical Care,Nashville, TN, USA
Introduction: Over half of prehospital deaths in low-income countries are the result of airway compromise, respiratory failure or uncontrolled hemorrhage; all three of these conditions can be addressed using basic first aid measures. For both hospital personnel and laypersons, a basic trauma resuscitation training in modified ABC techniques can be easily learned and applied to increase the number of first responders in Mozambique, a resource-challenged country. This approach supports WHO guidelines to reduce the impact of an injury once it occurs and optimize its outcome.
Methods: In March 2014, a trauma training session was administered to 100 people in Mozambique: half were hospital personnel from 7 district medical centers and the other half were selected laypersons. Five of the hospitals advertised surgical capability; two other medical centers were chosen based on long transport times to main hospitals and need for patient stabilization. This training session included a pre-test, intervention, and post-test to evaluate and demonstrate first response skills of airway management, hemorrhage control, and cervical spine precautions using resources available in hospital and street settings. Paired t-tests and linear regression curves were used to analyze the data.
Results: Laypersons answered 26.9% of the pre-test questions correctly and showed 86.9% improvement in their scores after the intervention; hospital personnel initially answered 41.7% correctly and improved their scores by 44%. All participants were able to open an airway, externally control hemorrhage, and transport a patient with appropriate precautions. In addition, hospital personnel were able to verbalize intravenous fluid resuscitation and oxygen application during assessment.
Conclusion: The trauma training session served as new information that improved knowledge and skills for both groups, as well as increased the number of first responders in Mozambique. This knowledge can minimize secondary and tertiary injuries by providing effective prehospital care in developing nations with limited trauma resources. Thus, this study supports WHO recommendations to utilize the strengths of a developing nation – population – as the first step in establishing an organized trauma triage system.